Pondy Cong. rejects PMK ultimatum
The Pondicherry Chief Minister and senior Congress leader, Mr. P. Shanmugham, today rejected the PMK leader, Dr. S. Ramadoss' ``ultimatum'' to the Congress that it should decide its alliance strategy in the Union Territory in two days.

Karunakaran upset, quits CWC
The senior Congress(I) leader, Mr. K. Karunakaran, today announced his resignation as permanent invitee to the party working committee expressing disgust at the way he and his supporters were given the short shrift in distribution of ticket for the Assembly elections.

Karnataka Cong. chief steps down
The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, Mr. V. S. Koujalagi, accused of accepting bribe from a youth for a contract and allegedly videographed during the act, today put in his papers from the post. Mr. Koujalagi's resignation was announced by the AICC general secretary, Ms. Ambika Soni, here this evening, a day after the KPCC chief had called on the AICC leaders here.

PM plays host to Clinton
Even as the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, assesses the highly-successful visit of his Foreign Minister to Washington, he was hosting tonight one American who has made Indo-U.S. rapprochement a possibility - Mr. William Jefferson Clinton.

'Poll outcome, no indicator of Tehelka fallout'
The Assembly election results cannot be taken as an indicator of the political fallout of the Tehelka tapes, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president, Mr. Jana Krishnamurthi, said today. ``And the party will not claim otherwise if the results are in out favour,'' he added. If the country had been facing a Lok Sabha election immediately after the Tehelka scandal, then of course, it could be claimed that the results indicated the impact of the scandal.

India, U.S. agree on defence cooperation
The visiting Minister for External Affairs and Defence, Mr. Jaswant Singh, and the U.S. Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, in addition to proliferation, trade and regional issues also discussed Indonesia, Sri Lanka and ``quite a lot of economics'' as it pertained to bilateral relations, the State Department spokesman, Mr. Richard Boucher, has said.

Bill introduced in U.S. to lift sanctions
Formal legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives calling for the lifting of sanctions against India and Pakistan which were imposed in the wake of the Pokhran tests of 1998.

GSLV launch on April 18
The first developmental launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) has been rescheduled for April 18, allowing time for the faulty engine, which created the problem at the previous launch attempt, to be replaced with a standby engine.